Last Night Would Have Made The Surreealists Proud.

This June ...... will mark seven years since we began covering Pennsylvania state goverment. Hard to believe that we were just a dewy-eyed 'blog of 29 when first we set foot in the Pennsylvania Capitol.Since then, we have seen some seriously weird stuff, culminating with the piece of political theatre that was last year's pay raise vote. And that, we figured, would never be topped. Harrisburg would simply never be as weird as it was last July 7.Well, last night came pretty darn close.After hours of standing around, waiting to learn whether the state House planned to vote on a compromise property tax reform plan approved by the Senate on Tuesday, the worm finally turned.It happened around 8:15 p.m. That was when House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin sauntered over to a bunch of us to let us know that House GOP floor boss Sam Smith of Punxsutawney would be holding a brief press conference to discuss the reform plan.Around here, there's only two reasons why something like that happens:1. They were gonna blow it up.2. They were gonna ask House Democrats to put up even more than the 88 votes they already had (the Dems have 94 members).Around 8:45, Smith, flanked by just about the entire House GOP caucus, entered the Capitol rotunda and took to the marble Phantom of the Opera stairs at its center.There weren't enough votes, and the House GOP thought it could do better, he said. It was the first time in recent memory that lawmakers had blown up a negotiated deal between the House and Senate. In Harrisburg, that's something that's just not done.So, we were left with questions: Did this mean that the House was going to start anew on tax reform when it returned from the May 16 primary? And further, how were lawmakers with tough primaries going to explain away their decision to gamble that they'd be able to come up with something better?We asked Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe.Voters, he insisted, would understand."If they want us to do property tax relief, there's the will to do it. We just want to do more significant tax breaks," he said. "We should do something for everybody."More of today's news after the jump.

One Of Our Favorite Moments Last Night ...... came courtesy of state Rep. Cate Harper, R-Montgomery.Emerging from last night's Republican caucus, cell phone in hand, Harper came face-to-face with around a half-dozen curious reporters who were hovering outside the House GOP caucus room on the Capitol's first floor.Without missing a beat, Harper grinned, and shouted, "It's a boy!!!!" and walked briskly down the hallway and away from reporters who were then convulsing with laughter.

Other Interesting Moments ...... came from Brian Preski, the generally inscrutable chief-of-staff to House Speaker John Perzel of Philadelphia.Asked whether the House GOP had the votes as it headed into caucus, Preski, without pausing to break stride said, "We have the votes if we need them. But the members have some things they want to talk about."Around 25 minutes later, it all made sense.And another came from Senate GOP Counsel Steve MacNett.Asked whether he was anxious about last night's expected vote, the always sage MacNett replied, "You don't often see me prowling about the south wing."By 8:15 or 8:30 p.m, the exasperation level began to grow, prompting one senior Rendell administration official (who shall remain nameless here) to observe, "We're not buying any votes. This is on the leaders. We had a deal."Yes, and we once had a much larger comic book collection. And that's gone now, too.

The Only Poll That Counts ...... are the ones that count during the regular campaign season.A new Keystone Poll shows Gov. Ed has opened up a 14-point advantage over Republican Lynn Swann, leading him 49-35 percent in a hypothetical contest. Most recent canvasses had been showing Swann trailing Rendell by only a few percentage points.But, aided by a $1 million television advertising campaign, Rendell opened a significant lead over the former Pittsburgh Steelers star.Activist-turned-independent gubernatorial candidate Russ Diamond drew 3 percent of the vote, while 13 percent of voters were undecided, pollsters found.Meanwhile, Our Rick continues to close the gap with Hermetic Bob. The Keystone poll shows Santorum trailing Casey by just 6 points, 47-41 percent.The plot, as they say, thickens.Speaking Of Russ Diamond ...... a Lebanon County jury on Wednesday convicted the government activist's father on 8 counts related to a standoff with police last year.Russell L. Diamond, 70, testified yesterday that he had fired a 2-gauge shotgun at police officers in his doorway, but had only wanted to scare them. The jury deliberated for five hours and then deadlocked on the most serious charge lodged against him, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports this morning.The jurors told a judge that roughly half their number considered Diamond's actions during the nine-hour standoff last Aug. 10 to be attempted homicide, but the rest had "fundamental" differences with that opinion.Diamond was convicted on charges that included aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

5-Second U.S. Senate Update (tm):Our faceless friends at PoliticsPa report this morning that the American Trial Lawyers are about to launch a new television and online advertising campaign branding Our Rick as a "space cadet" from "Planet Santorum."The campaignis being orchestrated by David Axelrod, a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. More on this as it develops.GovWatch (tm):Only Gov. Ed has a public schedule today. He's in the Big Apple tonight for HELP USA's 20th awards dinner.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning:Unless you're a true devotee of all things Britpop, there's a pretty good chance that you've never heard of a little outfit called Hurricane #1. The band, formed out of the ashes of shoe-gazing outfit Ride, released a clutch of singles and an LP or two before packing it in. We're listening to their eponymously titled 1997 debut today. Side note: Andy Bell, the founding guitarist in Ride and Hurricane #1, now pulls duty as the rhythm guitarist in Oasis.Thursday's Gratuitous Soccer Link:Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren will succeed the Swede Sven Goran Eriksson as manager of the English national team after their inevitable embarrassment during this summer's World Cup in Germany, The Guardian reports this morning.